Thanks to enhanced surveillance of the skies, astronomers detect a five-km-long asteroid on a collision course with our planet. They also calculate that the impact isn’t due for another…25 years.

What reactions, if any, might this elicit?

As we noted last week, a very early warning in such situations can make all the difference. In this game of cosmic billiards, even a modest ‘nudge’ or pull, done far enough in the trajectory, can deflect a hazardous space rock from hitting the Earth.

But how many governments — or inter-governmental organisations or humanitarian groups, for that matter – can really focus on something a full…